Rodney Terry believes Texas' success 'means a lot' to Kevin Durant

It’s been a special run to the Sweet Sixteen for the Texas men’s basketball team, with interim head coach Rodney Terry guiding the Longhorns into the second weekend of the tournament. And the former Texas assistant is aware that the success is being watched by at least one Longhorn legend: Kevin Durant.

Terry was a Texas assistant under then-head coach Rick Barnes when Durant came through for his year in Austin. Coming off an Elite Eight appearance the year prior, the Longhorns practically turned over their entire roster and Terry remembers how Durant became the centerpiece of the new group.

“I know he’s very fond of Texas, his experience he had. He came back this summer. He hadn’t been back on campus in a long time. Got a chance to work out with our guys, just jump right in. Whatever you guys are doing, I’m doing. I think our guys are looking around like, wow, okay, Kevin is jumping into all the stuff we’re doing,” Terry said.

Terry continued, explaining how Texas seems to mean as much to Durant as the former player does to the school.

“He just spent some time with the players we currently have on our team, worked out with those guys. He’s one of those guys that’s invested in our program,” Terry said. “He wants nothing but the best for Texas. Having had a personal relationship with him, I think it means a lot to him in what we’re doing and how we’re doing it right now.”

While on the topic of Durant, Terry got to regale reporters with some memories of the one year he and the coaching staff got with the star.

Even if it was just one season with Texas and then off the to the NBA draft, Terry knows Durant and Texas are forever linked.

“So we didn’t win the championship that year,” Terry said of the Big 12. “Then we go into the NCAA Tournament, and he plays well in the Tournament. I say all those things because he had an incredible experience at Texas in the one year. If you didn’t know he was leaving, you wouldn’t know he was leaving. Up until the time he went up and did his press conference and said, ‘I’ve got to put my name in the Draft,’ you would have thought he’d still be with us.”

Inevitably, Durant left for the NBA and it’s fair to say that was a good career move for the legendary scorer.

But now Terry and the Longhorns are eying an achievement that Durant couldn’t accomplish in his time at Texas: A berth in the Final Four.